Thursday, November 6, 2008

It has been such a stressful few months. It has been a stressful eight years. And the stress is bound to continue, of course, no matter how wonderful our president-elect is. This is the world.

But for today, at least, in honor of a magnificent victory, I give you a post restricted to low-key, no-stress, comforting things.

This post is The Bird Report.

A wonderful thing has just happened here in north Florida: The pelicans who winter on the St. John's River have returned. I saw three pelicans yesterday! Florida is a paradise for bird lovers and pelicans are the birds I love most; no matter what posture Sir Pelican chooses to adopt, he looks like a marvelous genetic mistake -- so wonderfully pointy and lumpy and unbalanced. Welcome back, Sir Pelican!

The winter cormorants and gulls are also back, and the herons are still hanging around; there's one old grizzly HUGE blue heron who hangs out on the pilings at night, croaking stories about the migration of '87 to the other birds. And there are five little herons -- four blue and one white -- who also hang out together, but tend to fly away around sunset. The other day, I learned the most wonderful thing about those five little herons. I used to think they were two kinds: blue and white. But the other day, when they flew away, I was able to see them from below. They are three kinds! One is completely white. Three are completely blue. And one is completely blue on top but completely white underneath!

Is it nuts that that should fill me with glee?

(In other non-stressful news, if you're looking for some light reading this weekend, I recommend Sunday's New York Times Book Review. The "Children's Books" section, in particular. Why, you ask? Oh, no reason. ^_^ [Just watch out for the spoilers!])

Once I was standing with friends at the end of Navy Pier in Chicago. Several feet away stood a man who was SUPER tall.

We all watched as a pelican slowly drifted toward us, then angled back, feet out, ready to land.

It tried to land on the tall man.

He was waving his arms and yelling "ack! ack!" but obviously trying to not hurt the pelican.

It flew up, made a small circle, and tried to land on him again.

By this time, there was a crowd of us shrieking with laughter, including the tall man and his companion, who kept trying to wave the pelican away. It would not stop trying to land on his head, so eventually he turned and ran inside.

Just after this, a policeman wandered up and demanded to know what the ruckus was. He didn't think the story was funny. I can only imagine that he was one of those unfortunates who have had their sense of humor surgically removed.

I just have to tell you how much I loved Graceling. I'm a bookseller at a store in Oregon and I've been recommending your book left, right and center. I read Graceling in one sitting. I had to stay up until 3, but I couldn't put it down. It's been a long time since I've been so compelled to finish a book. I immediately passed it off to my husband and he loved it too. In a little town in Oregon your book is selling very well and people are loving it!

Angela, thank you SO MUCH. I can't tell you how much I've come to respect and appreciate what booksellers do. I'm so glad you enjoyed it, and I know that if it's doing well out in the world, it's because of people like you!

Quick Links

"Then, at last, sitting on her stretcher-bed, she took from the very bottom of her pack an old peacock-blue scarf folded around a heavy, square book. She unwrapped it and opened it very carefully, as if guilty secrets might fall from between its pages like pressed flowers. This was Harry's secret. She was a writer."

-from The Tricksters, by Margaret Mahy

Writing is my secret. Every day I unwrap and open it as carefully as I can. Welcome to my blog about writing and life! Above you'll find quick links about me and my books, and below is more about me, ways to subscribe, and an archive of past posts. Click here to go home to my most recent posts.

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About the Author

Kristin Cashore wrote the New York Times bestsellers Graceling, Fire, and Bitterblue, all of which have been named ALA Best Books for Young Adults. Her next book, Jane, Unlimited, comes out in September 2017. Graceling is the winner of the 2009 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature and Fire is the winner of the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award. The books are world travelers, currently scheduled to be published in thirty-four languages.

Finally, a note: This blog is my only online presence. I am not on Facebook, Google+, or any other social media sites, and I use Twitter solely as an amalgamation feed for my blog. Sorry, but I do not read @-replies on Twitter!